Routledge Handbook of Deviant Behavior by Bryant Clifton D.;

Author:Bryant, Clifton D.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor and Francis

Eating Disorders and the Progression of Deviance

Individuals who become anorexic or bulimic begin their path toward developing eating disorders by internalizing the negative or deviant connotations of fatness, and the positive associations with slimness. Fatness is viewed in society as quite undesirable and as a personal failing; women who are fat are devalued and treated as deviant in social interactions because they are viewed as violating norms of body shape and self-control (Harrison and Cantor, 1997).

In contrast, a thin body symbolizes an idealized standard of beauty and personal achievement. Females are vulnerable to the ideal body norm as they are more likely than men to be judged by their appearance and physical aesthetics (Pliner et al., 1990). With gender socialization mandating visual attractiveness, women alter their bodies to conform to appearance expectations.

Females constantly strive to achieve thinness by dieting and losing weight. On any given day in the United States, for example, over half of all women may be on a diet (Haller, 1992). The reason for women’s dieting is generally appearance, not health. In an environment of constant pressure to be thin, women engage in persistent weight-loss efforts. As many diets are not successful, females are on a constant mission to find another weight-loss program (Silverstein et al., 1986).

Those females who become anorexic or bulimic are at first conformist and try to abide by the thinness norm. The degree of contentment they feel about their bodies is influenced by the verbal and nonverbal reactions regarding their appearance they receive from others. Not feeling thin enough impels these females to undertake more extreme weight-loss measures, such as very restrictive food intake, excessive exercising, and purging after eating a normal meal. Eating disorders begin as extreme manifestations of dieting and the striving to avoid the negative label of being obese or fat (McLorg and Taub, 1987).

In his seminal work, Lemert (1951) outlines the progression to developing a deviant identity. With primary deviance, individuals engage in a transitory period of norm violations, which are generally not known to others. In this stage, individuals rationalize their deviant acts so that their self-concept and performance of social roles are not affected. Concerning anorexia nervosa, primary deviance entails episodic starvation for weight management, often for the express purpose of losing weight for a special event, such as wanting to wear a particular bathing suit during spring break or trying to fit into a certain dress for an upcoming school dance. For an individual initiating bulimic behavior, primary deviance comprises trial periods of maintaining or losing weight by purging after overeating or following a large meal. In the stage of primary deviance, individuals do not consider themselves deviant or as having an eating disorder (McLorg and Taub, 1987).

Other people’s increased awareness of the starving and binging and purging behaviors leads to application of the “anorexic” and “bulimic” labels. For anorexics, other individuals become increasingly knowledgeable about their escalating weight loss and ritualistic eating and exercising patterns. For bulimics, others witness acts of purging or begin to question how weight can be maintained with such extreme intake of calories.

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